HWAMB — Chapter 23

[???]

[That thing with that bastard. Just don’t go overboard. Don’t suddenly get all competitive and throw yourself into it like crazy.]

[Hey, when have I ever… I don’t like exhausting myself either. I’ll just take it easy, ㅇㅇ.]

Sometimes my competitive side flared up, but not this time.

You only get competitive at things you’re good at. I wasn’t exactly unathletic, but I wasn’t anywhere near Hyun-woo or Jin-gyeong’s level either.

[Make sure you don’t trip during soccer.]

[ㅋ If I do, will you blow on it for me?]

[ㅈㄹㅋㅋㅋㅋ are you insane? No way.]

[ㅋㅋㅋ It’s not like it wears you out, you’re stingy as hell.]

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ go to sleep.]

Stingy? What was?

Was he seriously expecting me to squeeze through a mob of guys going wild over soccer just to blow on his bruise? As if I’d even make it through that crowd alive.

[Hey.]

[? What.]

[Just take it easy.]

[Yeah yeah, I got itㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

I grinned at Hyun-woo’s persistent nagging and turned off my phone, stretching my arms wide.

That was when I felt someone’s breath on the back of my neck. Startled, I turned to see Hyung standing there.

At some point, he had a can of beer in his hand. The sharp sound of the tab popping open rang right by my ear.

“Who are you texting that’s got you smiling like that?”

“Hyun-woo. Ah, Hyung… do you know Hyun-woo’s older brother?”

At that, Hyung’s expression froze. The sudden heaviness in the air left me too startled to continue.

Soon, his stiff lips eased, and he answered casually, as if it were nothing.

“Yeah. Our parents were close even before you were born. But why are you asking all of a sudden?”

“It’s just… I happened to run into him the other day.”

“You did? When?”

Without noticing Hyung’s frown deepen, I tapped at my phone screen and replied.

“The day before my birthday. He asked me to pass on his regards to you… so I was wondering if you two were close…”

“We’re not.”

The answer was short and sharp, almost cold. And Hyung’s eyes looked as if they were burning with anger.

Just then, the conversation I’d had with Hyun-woo’s brother flickered through my mind.

I had thought they were just distant acquaintances. But maybe not.

Hyung seemed to dislike him far more than I imagined.

It was true that Hyung wasn’t the warmest person. His personality was blunt, and he wasn’t very sociable. But this was the first time I’d ever seen him so openly hostile toward someone.

I stared at him in surprise. He, however, simply told me not to stay up all night watching videos and chased me out of the living room to bed.

* * *

The wide sports field was bustling from the morning. Our class T-shirts were a bright green with a “New Village” concept, complete with straw hats that made us stand out.

The only good thing about it was that the hats blocked most of the sunlight.

Of course, for running, they just got in the way, so we had to leave them behind.

When I returned to my seat after finishing the relay race, Young-ho and Sang-su greeted me with overly enthusiastic pats on the back.

“Wow, Kang Eun-jae~ you run like a pro, huh?”

“You even managed a comeback. I thought you were some athlete or something.”

“Shut up and give me some water.”

Panting hard, I snatched the bottle from their teasing hands.

Each gulp I swallowed made my throat bob. Because I drank too quickly, some spilled down the side of my mouth.

Wiping the drips off roughly with my arm, I turned my eyes toward the direction of the cheers.

After the relay came soccer.

Hyun-woo, who had just been competing alongside me, wiped his sweat and immediately headed off to prepare for the next match.

Seeing that, Young-ho suddenly exclaimed, “Ah, right!” and hurried to get ready himself—he was one of the representatives too.

Blinking slowly, I asked Sang-su,

“Soccer was right after the relay?”

“Yeah. Looks like it.”

“He’s not gonna collapse at this rate, is he? …I’ll go check on him.”

I clicked my tongue and was about to head toward Hyun-woo, when Sang-su spoke up, full of suspicion.

“Wait, who are you going to?”

“Hyun-woo. He’s going straight to soccer without even resting. He should take a break. What if he gets heatstroke or something?”

At my words, the two of them—who had been looking blank until then—burst out laughing.

As if saying, “How can you say something that ridiculous with such a serious face?”

I glared at them with a sour look, but they barely caught their breath as they replied.

“Hyun-woo getting heatstroke? Haha, Kang Eun-jae, you really do worry about the most useless things. And you’re the one who’s known him the longest.”

“That stamina monster collapsing? If that guy goes down today, I’ll buy you all dinner.”

“Still, though…”

“Yeah. That’s just overprotective, man. Hyun-woo’s not a little kid. He knows how to take care of himself.”

“Exactly. Instead of worrying about him, you should be worrying about me—we’re on the same team, remember?”

Then they joked that it made no sense for me to be worrying about the opposing Blue Team instead of focusing on my own, and they patted my back.

Was it really so strange to worry about a friend?

Inside, I almost let myself be convinced, but I tilted my head in doubt. Young-ho, maybe feeling exasperated, pulled me to the stands, sat me down, and after some quick stretches, ran out to the field.

In the distance, I could see Hyun-woo kicking the ball.

Surrounded by classmates screaming their lungs out in cheers, I kept sipping water.

Then I pulled out my phone and began recording the game.

Noticing, Sang-su, who was cheering for the White Team beside me, asked curiously,

“What are you doing? You’re recording it too?”

“Yeah. Whenever there was an event, we used to take turns recording or snapping photos of each other’s matches.”

“Really? Didn’t you not do it last year?”

“Oh, my phone was broken then.”

“I see…”

His reply trailed off, and his expression looked oddly irritated, as though he’d just witnessed something annoying.

I had a bad feeling about what nonsense he was going to say next.

“What? Don’t friends usually do stuff like this for each other?”

“Sure, yeah, they do sometimes… but whatever. Just watch your expression.”

“My expression?”

He shook his head at my confused face and turned his attention back to the game.

I raised my eyes, staring at him in disbelief, but he ignored me completely, pretending not to notice.

What was supposedly wrong with my expression?

I wanted to switch my camera to selfie mode right then and check, but since I was recording, I couldn’t.

“What the hell…”

With no choice, I just touched my face here and there with my free hand, but I couldn’t figure out what he meant.

So I decided to just focus on recording instead.

* * *

Even at lunchtime, while eating, my eyes didn’t leave my phone. The screen showed the recording of Hyun-woo.

The shaky camera work made it a bit hard to watch, which was disappointing.

I really wasn’t good at capturing people, whether through selfies, photos, or video.

Still, thanks to Hyun-woo racking up points at a frightening speed, the Blue Team rode the momentum and claimed victory against the White Team in spectacular fashion.

From beside me, I heard Young-ho grumble. Slamming the table in frustration, he looked like he had been wronged.

“Scoring like that, is he even human? Damn it, seriously… Hey, hey. Kang Eun-jae, turn that video off. I don’t wanna see Shim Hyun-woo’s face right now. Ugh…”

“Forget it. How could a beta ever beat a dominant alpha anyway.”

“He could too!”

At his outburst, Sang-su rubbed his chin like he was thinking deeply, then replied.

“Hmm… well, if you think about it, it’s not completely impossible.”

“Right?”

Hopeful eyes stared at him, but Sang-su just smirked slyly.

“About… one point five percent chance?”

“Hey!”

Young-ho shouted again at the brutally realistic answer, but Sang-su only laughed, replying lightly.

“That’s already being generous.”

“Damn it… At that point, it’d be faster to just be reborn.”

As Young-ho sulked and complained, Sang-su shoved bread into his mouth to calm him down.

Even though Young-ho protested that he wasn’t hungry, he ended up eating every piece Sang-su handed him anyway.

His body and words never matched, but he seemed completely unaware of it himself.

Chewing reluctantly, Young-ho stared at Sang-su’s busy hands and asked,

“…What are you doing right now?”

“This? For the obstacle race.”

Already finished with his meal, Sang-su was writing things on slips of paper with a marker and tossing them into a box. Folded slips soon began to fill the box.

Apparently, for the final stretch of the obstacle course, they had to draw a slip and grab someone who fit the description written on it to run with.

Watching this, Young-ho frowned curiously.

“You’re doing that now? And why you?”

“The guy in charge is swamped. We’ve been close for a while, so I figured I’d help.”

“Let’s see… ‘A teacher wearing black shoes,’ ‘Someone with glasses,’ ‘Bring anyone from the opposing team’… Man, what is this nerd stuff? Give me that.”

Snatching the marker from Sang-su, Young-ho scribbled mischievously.

“‘An alpha who’s been single all his life,’ ‘Someone who looks like they’ve dated at least ten people,’ ‘The person you want to kiss right now,’ and ‘The one you thought about most to— ow!’”

“Too vague, idiot.”

“You’re just being dumb.”